First Act Kochie's Business Builders

Cameron Falloon is passionate about fitness. He’s spent decades helping elite athletes, the rich and famous and everyday Aussies meet their fitness goals to be the best they can be. He is the founder of Body Fit Training - the fastest-growing fitness franchise in Australia - with over 240 locations opened across the globe. Plus he’s the former head fitness coach of the Geelong Cats, the Western Bulldogs and was the high performance coach of Port Adelaide Power for a time. At the ripe old age of 24, he was the personal trainer of perhaps the world’s most famous woman - Princess Diana.
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Melbourne entrepreneur Mike Halligan is a bit of an overachiever. He’s mastered the worlds of eCommerce, marketing, blogging, apps and subscription services – all driven by his desire to find solutions to consumer problems and build brands accordingly.

Some of his pet projects have taken off, others haven’t. Right now, he’s the co-founder of a howling multi-million dollar success: Scratch, Australia’s fastest-growing direct-to-consumer dog food company. On this episode of First Act, Mike speaks honestly about the lessons he’s learned that any startup founder or budding entrepreneur will lean in to hear.
Episode notes
In this episode, Mike shares:

2:58 – Growing up in an entrepreneurial family

5:31 – Lessons learned from launching a business as a teen

9:30 – The benefits of studying entrepreneurship

11:10 – Building a successful marketing firm at age 19 – Engage Marketing

15:25 – Jumping on the early blog designing bandwagon – The Blog Designers

18:50 – Evolution into eCommerce and building online stores – Online Store Guys

21:55 – The power of eCommerce to scale a business

24:30 – Launching one of the first health tech apps – BodyWise

30:05 – Advice for people wanting to launch an app today

33:05 – The birth of Scratch subscription pet food service

36:45 – The benefits of a subscription model for business efficiency

44:20 – Reigniting the spark for business after failure


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He’s one of the most recognisable faces on Australian TV thanks to My Kitchen Rules, but that’s only one part of the Manu Feildel story. Coming from a family of French foodies, Manu caught the cooking bug working as a teenage apprentice in his dad’s restaurant in Brittany. Armed with natural talent and joie de vivre, Manu embarked upon a career working in some of the finest French restaurants in London before making the move to Australia.
From the highs of heading up hatted restaurants to the heartbreak of closing much-loved venues, Manu’s learned the hard lessons of hospitality firsthand. In this frank, funny and fascinating First Act, Manu shares the secrets of surviving fine dining, navigating TV fame and the challenges of getting a brand into supermarkets (The Sauce By Manu is his latest).
Episode notes:
In this episode, Manu unpacks:

2:00 – The most overrated food trend

4:00 – Manu’s family foodie history + early days in the food industry

7:00 – Lessons learned from working in hospitality

9:30 – From France to London – Manu’s early career moves

12:00 – Differences between Australian vs European food industries

13:51 – Making a fresh start in Australia – early successes and failures

16:50 – Hardest lessons learned from business challenges

20:00 – Breaking through depression after business failure

22:45 – Upsides and downsides to starring on My Kitchen Rules


25:45 – Learning to be a public figure

27:50 – From representing brands to building his own – By Manu

30:10 – The long journey from idea to supermarket shelves

36:30 – Why the switch from TV chef to supermarket brand?

38:15 – La Botanique – going into business with wife, Clarissa

40:45 – Crowdfunding to expand the By Manu team and brand


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Lisa Cox has a no-BS approach to life. Her ability to cut through fluff has been key to her success as an internationally respected disability advocate, award-winning author, business consultant and media professional.

It hasn’t been an easy ride. At just 24, Lisa suffered a brain haemorrhage caused by an infection. Three weeks in a coma, two months on life support and dozens of operations and procedures later, Lisa had to rebuild her life, living with a brain injury. Dealing with such a curveball presented Lisa with a second chance. Now, she’s renowned as one of Australia’s most powerful voices for representation, diversity and inclusion for people living with disabilities.

Episode notes:In this episode, Lisa unpacks:

2:39 – Making a career out of communicating

6:25 – Disrupting expectations of people with disabilities

9:30 – Fighting back after a sudden, debilitating illness at age 24

12:00 – Disability is more than socially good – it’s good for business

15:29 – Why disability representation matters in media, marketing and advertising

17:35 – Virtue signalling – businesses MUST do better than once a year

22:32 – The problem with the ‘positive inspo’ space

25:44 – Challenges with social attitudes towards people with disability

30:10 – Tiers of prejudice – invisible vs visible disability

34:00 – Understanding what employees with disabilities need

36:12 – The importance of consulting with people with lived experience

39:45 – Support and self-care as a disability advocate

41:30 – Supporting small business owners with disabilities 


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Warning: This episode of First Act deals with trauma and may be potentially distressing for some listeners.
Yarrie Bangura is a survivor. At the age of eight years old, her family fled the civil war in Sierra Leone and migrated to Australia as refugees. While the painful memories live on, Yarrie has found a way to celebrate the positive parts of growing up in her West African village.
Inspired by a natural recipe made by her aunty and grandmother, Yarrie created Aunty’s Ginger Tonic. Now a successful entrepreneur living in Sydney, Yarrie has captured the vibrant spirit of Africa and is passionate about giving back to her adopted homeland of Australia.
Episode notes:
In this episode, Yarrie talks about:

Life in Sierra Leone and the conflict that caused Yarrie’s family to flee (4m)

Starting new life in Australia as a teen - coping with trauma + learning a new language (9m30s)

Yarrie’s mother’s inspiring entrepreneurial survival skills (16m30s)

The family inspiration and product development behind Aunty’s Ginger Tonic (19m25s)

Expanding from markets to supermarket shelves (27m30s)

Building a business support network to help you reach success (31m45s)

Next steps: Expanding the Aunty’s Ginger Tonic flavour range (36m45s)


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From SoCal beaches to the streets of Darlinghurst, Clovis Young’s journey to becoming a fast food mogul has been a winding one.
Growing up in sunny California, Clovis fell in love with the fresh flavours of Mexican cuisine. But it wasn’t until he ditched his Wall Street job as an equity trader for life down under, that he began his singular mission: to bring fresh Mexican food to Australians. It was a move that would disrupt the local fast food movement with a healthier alternative. Fast forward 13 years later and you can find Mad Mex Fresh Mexican all across the nation.
Episode notes:

Clovis’ first act – early foodie memories + creative parents (1m)

From Wall Street to Australian taco tycoon – next steps (9m 40s)

Business blind spots – a steep learning curve (15m30s)

Running a business with your significant other (20m)

Bootstrapping, franchising + challenges of moving into new territories (24m30s)

How a community-focused approach works best (29m)

Resilience tips when coping with business challenges (35m)

The power of transparency (40m)


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